Starting the build and need help

[Babyboomerboy]

OK, I bought a trailer and now I have a 250 gallon propane tank. I need help on figuring out where to mark the doors and how high to cut the end for the fire box. I have read lots of threads from some of you guys that have built a smoker out of a 250 gallon tank, did any of you write down the measurements. I am making a reverse flow smoker. HELP Thank you

 

[crb478]

It really depends on how big you want the doors to be. I cut my tank a couple of inches below the center line on the side. That put the bottom rack just below center at the cooking surface. The top rack is 7 inches above that at the bottom. My top cut is about 3 inches down from the top point of the tank. The thinking was that it would help retain a little heat when the door was opened, probably not much though. You could also make this cut at the very top. I welded the hinges on before I made the final cuts.

On my cooker I have two shelves the bottom one is 52 X 28 with 7inches of clearence and the top is 52 X 25 with 5 inches of clearence.

You need to set your goals for what you want and then design your pit for that. You may want more or less door space. Also the bigger the door the more it weighs so you may need to counter weight it.

 

[Babyboomerboy]

Thank you crb478 for the reply. I have seen some smokers that have overlapping doors so that you can open the front or the back and not loose all the smoke and heat, or open both if you are smoking a whole hog. So many choices and so small a brain, I just don't know what to do. How high do you cut the opening for the fire box if you are building a reverse flow smoker? Thanks again